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From Ewoks to the 'real' Chosen One, these are Star Wars' most controversial aspects.
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00:00The Star Wars fandom is one of the largest communities built around a fictional universe,
00:04and while those Trekkies certainly come close, I mean I hear they've even got some pretty good
00:08YouTube channels up and running these days, plug plug plug plug plug, nobody beats Star Wars when
00:13it comes to controversies that divide the fandom. Speaking of which, I'm Josh from WhatCulture.com
00:19and these are 10 Star Wars controversies that divided fans.
00:23Number 10, did Luke use the dark side on the Gamorrean Guard?
00:27Return of the Jedi marked the end of the first trilogy in the Star Wars franchise.
00:32Here, our central protagonist was in the final stages of his hero's journey.
00:35He was no longer the naive idealist who sought adventure and kind of fancied his sister.
00:41Instead, he had become a battle season starfighter and a confident Jedi knight.
00:45Episode 6 saw Luke entering Jabba's palace before using a most un-Jedi-like technique
00:51on a pair of Gamorrean guards, that being of course, force choking.
00:55This triggered a long-running debate about whether or not Luke channeled the dark side
01:00in this scene. And this is a debate that has been fueled by all the contradictory materials
01:05surrounding it. See, in Empire Strikes Back, Yoda specifically told Luke that the Jedi used
01:11the force only in defense and never to attack. So, throttling a few helpless pig guards seemed
01:17a little bit out of character. In later Star Wars Legends novels though, Luke's actions
01:22were somewhat redacted. In The Heir to the Empire, for instance, one line reads, quote,
01:27Walking into Jabba's palace on Tatooine five years ago, using the force to befuddle the
01:32Gamorrean guards, end quote. Indicating that Luke's actions were some kind of mind trick
01:36rather than an act of violence. On the other side of the argument, this action is indicative
01:41of Luke's entire struggle. I mean, after all, he was dabbling in the dark side throughout Return of the Jedi,
01:47even channeling hatred to cut off Vader's hand in their final duel.
01:52Number 9, Midichlorians.
01:55Throughout the first trilogy, the force was presented as a mystical energy, not dissimilar to magic.
02:00Indeed, those who believed in the force were considered to be superstitious.
02:04Vader was described as having a, quote,
02:06sad devotion to that ancient religion, and even Han Solo dismissed it as hokey.
02:11Although it becomes clear that the force is very real in this universe,
02:14it was never quite clear what it was. It was just one of the features that blurred George
02:19Lucas's epic sci-fi tale into the realms of fantasy. With the prequels, however, Qui-Gon Jinn
02:26explained that the force was largely to do with microscopic intelligent life forms called
02:30midichlorians. They attached themselves to force-sensitive beings, forming a symbiotic
02:35relationship which gave Jedi their power. One could even measure someone's midichlorian count
02:40through scientific testing. For many fans, though, this explanation seemed to ruin the magic of the
02:45force entirely, demystifying it with a lot of scientific sounding jargon. It also begs the
02:51question, why was everyone in the original trilogy so skeptical about the force's existence when there
02:57were established scientific ways of measuring it just years before?
03:01Number 8, Jar Jar Binks.
03:03Each Star Wars trilogy has had their own controversial alien species. The original movies had the Ewoks,
03:10the sequels contained the Pogs, and the prequels contained Jar Jar Binks. When the prequels dropped
03:16in the early 2000s, they were bombarded with criticism, and Jar Jar became a central target
03:21of this ridicule. He was described as clown-like, silly, and even accused of playing interracial
03:28stereotypes. For those who were old enough to see the original trilogy when it came out,
03:32the childish aspects of Jar Jar simply trivialized the Star Wars universe. For those who were children
03:38during the prequels, though, Jar Jar was a favorite. He was the comic relief in a story
03:42that became very dark. So this divide in opinion kind of comes down to just being an age thing.
03:49The backlash received by the character, though, actually did lead to George Lucas discarding
03:53a plot point that gave the Darth Jar Jar theory some credence. Ahmed Best, as well, who played
03:59Jar Jar Jar, admitted that the character was actually supposed to have a much more sinister
04:02story arc. There was even a scrapped scene in which Palpatine confided in Jar Jar about his
04:07plans for the Empire, but Lucas rightly didn't push his luck with this character anymore.
04:13Number 7. Does the Holdo maneuver make space battles redundant?
04:17No matter how you felt about the sequel trilogy, it must be admitted that those movies were visually
04:22stunning. And no scene was as awe-inspiring as the moment when Vice Admiral Holdo committed the
04:27ultimate sacrifice. Piloting her ship into the oncoming First Order fleet, she engaged the
04:33hyperdrive and utterly destroyed her foes. It was a kind of take your breath away moment,
04:38but this also had huge implications for not only the future of Star Wars, but all the previous
04:43movies to date, and the fandom jumped right on it. And that's because if using a hyperdrive in this
04:49way was possible, then why was it the first time anybody had done it? With just a simple push of
04:54a
04:54button, the Rebel Alliance could have avoided losing dozens of ships during both attacks on
04:59the Death Star. Of course, the Reddit community is filled with counter-arguments about why this
05:04was. Namely, that although it is possible, the logistics of such a maneuver are so complex that
05:10it simply would be too difficult to replicate on a regular basis.
05:15Number 6. The Changing Force Ghosts. The retrospective changes George Lucas made to
05:20his original trilogy have long been a topic of contention among fans. The theatrical cuts of
05:26A New Hope, Empire, and Return of the Jedi were all considerably different to the 1997 special
05:32editions. Previously, cutscenes were added in, including Han's confrontation with Jabba in A New
05:37Hope, and other editions included digitized backgrounds and characters. Just prior to the release
05:43of Revenge of the Sith, Lucas made further changes for the 2004 DVD release of the original trilogy.
05:49As you might remember, the climax of Return of the Jedi saw Luke share a touching moment with the
05:54forced ghosts of his former teachers and father. It was heartwarming stuff, and originally,
05:59Sebastian Shaw, who played Darth Vader, appeared as the redeemed Jedi Anakin Skywalker, but after the
06:05DVD release, Hayden Christensen was spliced in. On the one hand, this seemed like a clever way to tie
06:11the prequels and the originals together. On the other hand, it felt like a slight to the actor who
06:16portrayed Vader in his moment of redemption. Not only that, but if Anakin really did bring balance to
06:21the Force, surely his Force Ghost should represent him at the age at which it happened.
06:27Number 5, Luke's regressive story arc. Reducing Luke Skywalker to a bitter old hermit who drinks
06:34alien sea cow milk and has no interest in battling the Sith was one hell of a thing to do
06:39to the former
06:39savior of the galaxy. On the one hand, this subversion of expectations reminded audiences
06:45that even legendary heroes were susceptible to falling into despair. It also offered Rey a serious
06:51character development moment as well, as through Rey's steadfast tenacity and her willingness to
06:55resist the dark side and save Ben, Luke was encouraged to renew the fight against the Sith.
07:00Well, that's what the filmmakers were going for, and that's how some interpreted this plot point,
07:05but others didn't take kindly to it at all. Instead, they were perhaps rightly annoyed that
07:11Luke essentially just sulked on his island refuge until the ever-predictable Force Ghost of Yoda
07:15showed up to give him a pep talk. Huge numbers of fans, including Mark Hamill, thought Luke's
07:21character was at best pitifully underused, and at worst had his legacy dragged through Bantha crap.
07:28Number 4, The Ewoks. Just like Jar Jar Binks, your perception of the Ewoks likely comes down to the
07:34age you were when you first saw them. If you were a kid, the cute little fuzzy things made for
07:39a great
07:40cuddly toy, but if you were older, you likely saw them for what they ultimately became. A merchandising
07:45opportunity. It wouldn't be the last time George Lucas was accused of introducing characters that could later be used as
07:51a
07:51money grab either. With this one then, it all kind of depends on a matter of perspective. Sure, they look
07:56kind of dumb and
07:57they get totally manipulated by the Rebellion, and there is the small detail of them wanting to cook and
08:03eat our heroes, but their miraculous victory over the Stormtroopers also represents a central theme
08:08of Star Wars. That being, the triumph of the underdog over the oppressor.
08:14Number 3, The Ambiguous Moral Compass of the Jedi.
08:18The Jedi have long been considered the most noble and honorable people in the Star Wars universe.
08:23They wield extreme power, but only use it for good, or at least supposedly. They are the keepers of peace
08:29and the last and only real defense against the ever-rising dark side.
08:33Having said all of that though, the Jedi did do some pretty reprehensible things, leading many in the
08:39fan community to reconsider their thoughts about these light side Force users.
08:43For starters, young Force-sensitive children were torn away from their parents at an extremely young age by
08:49the Jedi Order. This was purely so the individual could be indoctrinated, having the notions of love
08:55and attachment driven out of them, which does sound a little cult-like to me.
08:59The Jedi also became extremely dogmatic and rigid. The idea of individuality or autonomous thought was
09:05so rejected that it led them to shun extremely wise Jedi like Qui-Gon Jinn. Their ways even forced
09:11individuals like Count Dooku and Anakin Skywalker to join the dark side.
09:16Number 2. Was Anakin the actual Chosen One?
09:20The Chosen One prophecy is the catalyst that triggers the entire Skywalker saga.
09:25The central conflict of the story is all about bringing balance to the Force.
09:28In the original trilogy, Luke is presented as the one who will overthrow the Sith and restore balance,
09:34but as it turns out, Darth Vader actually does this when he kills the Emperor.
09:38For all of their issues, the prequels did a wonderful job of giving background to these events.
09:42Although Qui-Gon Jinn did not see the horror that Anakin would bring to the galaxy,
09:46he was correct in believing that he would ultimately destroy the Sith and fulfill the prophecy.
09:51That was until the sequel trilogy anyway.
09:54With the return of Darth Sidious and the Rise of Skywalker, all of that kind of went out the window.
09:59Now this film skips over exactly how he came back, merely offering a line from poor Dameron that says,
10:05somehow Palpatine returned.
10:07No matter the intricacies of how this happened, Palpatine did come back and Rey eventually destroyed him,
10:13once again bringing balance to the Force.
10:16But if Palpatine wasn't really dead at the end of Return of the Jedi,
10:19then were the Sith ever really destroyed by Anakin?
10:23You can see why this one divided people.
10:26I mean, the Chosen One prophecy is the plot point that underpins the entire conflict of the first two trilogies,
10:31and Anakin's redemption arc is what made this story so loved, and the sequels kinda undermined that.
10:38Number 1. Who shot first?
10:40We've already discussed how George Lucas went about altering his original movies over the years,
10:45and for the most part, these changes were kinda inconsequential.
10:48But one change that will forever keep fans talking is the infamous face-off between Han Solo and the bounty
10:54hunter Greedo.
10:55In the most readily available versions of A New Hope, Han is forced to shoot Greedo after he pulls a
11:01blaster on him.
11:03Dodging the bounty hunter's shot, Solo returned fire with deadly accuracy.
11:07In the theatrical release, of course, Solo just blasted Greedo while he was flapping his mouth.
11:12This all boils down to Lucas' concern that he'd originally depicted Solo as a brutal killer.
11:17Thus, he altered the scene to make Han more sympathetic, and over the years, this has been altered numerous times
11:24further,
11:24with the firing rate being sped up and slowed down to make the scene that bit more ambiguous.
11:31So, that's our list. I want to know what you guys think down in the comments below.
11:34Please give me your take on these controversies, and are there any divisive moments I missed off here?
11:40While you're down there as well, can you please give us a like, share, subscribe, and head over to WhatCultureStarWars
11:43for more lists and news like this on the regular.
11:46Even if you don't know, I've been Josh. Thanks so much for watching, and I'll see you soon.
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